


Flash

by JustAndrea



Category: We Bare Bears (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 15:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8167391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAndrea/pseuds/JustAndrea
Summary: Panda had never really understood Charlie’s fear of cameras. People, sure, but cameras? Surely one little picture - especially one that was worth a huge reward - was no big deal, right?





	

“…Well, uhhh, I guess we could try to split a small?” “We wouldn’t be able to get any toppings either…” “Well, come on, cheese is still good, right?” “Yeah I guess, but onions and spinach would be even better.” “Ice bear wants stuffed crust.”

Grizz sighed, exiting out of the contacts list and setting his brother’s phone down. “Okay, okay. How about we just eat in tonight. We’ll get pizza next week, alright?” 

Panda slouched, but knew complaining wouldn’t get him anywhere. “Fine.” Ice Bear didn’t look too upset, though he was slightly annoyed at having to cook a meal when he had planned on taking the night off.

Thankfully, his big brother noticed. “Come on, man. I’ll help you make something,” Grizz told him, an enthusiastic smile on his face, “Just tell me what I need to do!”

Ice bear nodded. “Ice Bear will turn you into the perfect assistant chef.”

“Great! Hey Pan-Pan, you wanna take care of dessert then?” 

Panda shook his head. “Nah. If you don’t mind, I think I’m just gonna hang out in my room for a bit.” “Oh. Well, alright. We’ll just call you in when supper’s ready!” “Kay…” With that, the middle brother took his phone and headed towards his room.

Once he was there, Panda got back onto his phone - and grimaced when he saw how much it was lagging. “Ugh, come on…” He refreshed the page, but had the same results. Dropping his phone on the bed, he sighed and waited for it to load. It was averaging at about one to three minutes per page, but this was a pretty busy site, so the loading time would probably be about- “…Ugh, I need a new phone.” 

The bear brothers weren’t rich - not even close - but they weren’t exactly poor either. At least, they weren’t most of the time. There were times however where they were really low on funds, and just had to deal with it for a week or two every few months. But just because he was used to it didn’t mean Panda wasn’t still annoyed by it. 

Lifting up his phone, he pouted slightly when he saw that only half the page was loaded. “Ugh… Better than nothing, I guess. Wonder what people are posting.” He scrolled down a bit - most of the pictures weren’t there, but he could at least read text posts. Although the fact that most of them were about people eating out or going on vacation or having fun shopping with friends didn’t exactly help Panda feel any better.

However, just as he was about to exit out of the app, he saw it in bold letters - $3,000 dollar reward. “Wait, what?” He scrolled down, and waited for the rest of the post to load in.

WANTED: Clear photos of Mysterious Forest Creatures! Channel Three suspects that there are strange creatures in the Northern California region based on the pictures already submitted to us. If you can get us a clear photo of one of these creatures, you will be given a cash reward of one thousand dollars as well as on-air credit for the photo.

Panda quickly clicked on the post, waiting anxiously for the picture that came along with the post to load in. Although, once he saw the just first half of it - the color of the creature’s fur and how tall he was, as well as how blurry the picture was - he knew exactly what (and who) this ‘mysterious creature’ was. 

“Charlie…” He frowned, scrolling back down to the text. Three thousand dollars… Three thousand dollars! Those three words just kept repeating in his mind. Maybe it wasn’t a ton, but that money could still really help them out! But… Panda’s mind flashed to all the instances where Charlie freaked out about a camera, and his frown deepened. “…Maybe if I just talk to him? I mean, it’s just one little picture.” 

As he eventually got off of his phone and onto the family laptop, Panda continued to think about the offer. Just one picture… One quick picture and they would be set for at least a month! And of course they’d give Charlie something too, so it was a win-win, right? Charlie would be fine with it once they explained the situation, right? 

“Of course he’ll be!” Panda told himself, giving a nod. It wouldn’t even be dangerous! He could just tell the news that ‘the creature’ ran off after he took the picture and now he had no idea where he was, so Charlie would still be totally safe! And again, it was just one little picture. It wasn’t like it was going to hurt him or anything!

By the time his brothers called him back into the kitchen, Panda’s mind was one hundred percent made up. He made sure to bed early while his phone was charging, and at the crack of dawn (after telling his brothers that he was just going out for a fresh, morning walk), Panda began his search. 

“Charlie!” He called out, once he was deep enough in the forest, “Hey! Charlieeee! You there, Charlie?” Honestly, with how easily Charlie seemed to run into them, Panda didn’t think it would be too hard to find him. 

…By the second hour of his search, he was starting to think he underestimated Charlie’s hiding skills, and by the fourth hour, he was close to giving up. Panda groaned, sitting down on a fairly clean looking rock while he wiped the sweat from his fur. “Geez, where is he? Ugh… Of course when I actually WANT to run into him, he’s nowhere.”

“Who’s nowhere?”

“AHHH!” Panda leapt up, clutching his chest. “C-Charlie! Ugh, why do you always-?!” He stopped himself. Wait, no! This was what he wanted! “I mean, heyyy, Charlie! How are you?”

“Oh I’m pretty good, thanks!” Charlie greeted with a simple smile, “Found some pretty good pinecones on the other side of the forest. They make for a pretty good sweet-snack if you don’t mind licking the sap off them. Then I decided, hey! It’s been a while, so how ‘bout I come to this side visit you guys! And surprise surprise, I found you right here! Heh, I guess ya’ll were coming to visit me!” 

“Hehe, yyyyep,” Panda nodded, “Or, well, I came to visit you. My brothers are back at the cave so-”

“Well then come on! Let’s go see them, then we can all catch up with each other! Maybe play a few games, have a few snacks! I can even tell you guys about this great patch of moss and mud that I found!” Excited now, Charlie grabbed the bear’s hand and started to drag him off, but Panda managed to pull away before they could get too far.

“Wait, Charlie!” The Sasquatch stopped, turning to look at his friend. “Uh, how about we just stay right here, just for a few minutes. Then we can go see my brothers!”

“Uhh, well, alright! If that’s what you wanna do!” Smiling again, Charlie put his hands on his hips and looked up into the trees. “Not a bad place to hang out, I guess. …You know, I think this is my third favorite section of the forest. It’s just something about the lighting, how the sun shines through the trees. Yep, not too dark, and not too bright. You see lots of squirrels around here too. Hey, did you know that there are black squirrels in some forests? Boy, I bet they’re just as cute as grey ones! Heh, this one time-”

“Uh huh, uh huh. Yeah that’s, that’s very interesting, Charlie…” As the one-sided conversation continued, Panda very slowly got out his phone. Not making any sudden movements, he clicked on the ‘camera’ app and waited for it to focus. Almost there… Almost there… Now he just had to-

“YIPE!” In a split second, the phone was knocked out of his paws and landed on the forest floor. “…” For a moment, neither of them said anything, though when he saw the look of annoyance start to form on Panda’s face, Charlie started to speak up. “H-Hey, I’m sorry man but… B-But you know I don’t like cameras.”

Panda sighed. “Yeah, I know, but- Okay, look, I really need a picture of you, alright?”

“Why?” Charlie asked almost immediately, still looking a bit nervous.

“…” The black and white bear took a few moments to answer, wanting to use the right words. “Well… You see, the news is offering a lot of money for pictures of mysterious forest creatures. …Pictures of you. And, look, normally I wouldn’t even think about it but, we could really use the money. So…”

“Oh. …Y-Yeah, yeah I get it!” Charlie nodded, forcing a small smile, “Say no more, Pan-Man. Take all the, all the p-pictures you need, bud!”

“Really?” Panda smiled back at him. “Thanks Charlie. I really appreciate this. And don’t worry, we’re going to give you something too! Cheesy puffs, some cash, anything you want!”

“Heh, great! Great… So, uh-” Panda picked up his phone, and the Sasquatch felt himself stiffen a bit. “I-I just, stand right here?”

“Yep, that’s great,” Panda told him, getting back into the camera app, “Just stand there and let me take your picture.”

O-Okay, got it! Heh…” 

As the camera focused, Panda made sure to take a couple steps back so that he could get all of Charlie in frame. “Okay… Get ready, and-” No sooner had he clicked the button did Charlie let out another yip, moving and completely ruining the picture. “Charlie!”

Charlie quickly stood back up. “Uh, s-sorry! Sorry! My bad! I-I’ll stay still time, I promise!”

“Okay…” Another couple seconds passed as the camera refocused. “Remember, no moving. Just relax. It’s just a picture, alright?”

“Y-Yeah…” the taller creature nodded, wringing his hands, “Just a picture…”

“…Charlie, you’re moving.” “Huh? Oh. Sorry.” Once Charlie’s hands were down and he was standing as still as a pole, Panda tried to take another picture. And again, just as the flash went off, Charlie moved. “Charlieeee! Ugh… How about we try it without the flash, will that help?”

“Oh, yeah! Maybe that will help!” “Fine.” He took off the ‘flash’ option, and got ready to take another picture, but quickly noticed how Charlie was standing. How his legs were bent slightly, as if he was ready to- … “…Okay, get ready,” Panda told him, despite his paw not being on the button, “Three, two, one-”

Just as Panda suspected, Charlie moved out of the way right when he thought the camera was going off - this time crouching down and even making sure to cover his face. “Seriously?!”

Charlie peeked out from his hands. “I, I’m sorry Panda! Look-” He stood back up, “Let’s try again! I promise I’ll-”

Panda gave an exasperated sigh, putting his phone away. “Just forget it…”

“…” Despite his height, Charlie felt pretty small at that moment, as well as pretty guilty. “I’m really sorry, Panda. I, I just-”

“Yeah, I know… Come on, let’s just go.” The bear started to walk away, he couldn’t help but mumble to himself, “After all the stuff we put up with from him, he can’t just do this one thing for us?” Ugh. Then again, he should’ve expected something like this from Charlie. 

The next few minutes of walking were silent, and it was only when he started nearing his cave did Panda realize that Charlie wasn’t following him. …Maybe that mumble wasn’t just something he could hear, and almost immediately his frustration and annoyance started to turn into guilt. “Aw geez… Well, I’m sure he’ll get over it.” He had to… Right?

()()()()()()()()()

“Seventeen… Eighteen… Nine- Oh wait, this is a five! Haha, we have enough for a large pizza AND a tip!” “Ice Bear has been looking forward to this for days.” Gathering up all the money, Grizz smiled at his brothers. “Okay guys, what toppings should we get?”

“Uh… You know, you guys can just get whatever you want,” Panda replied, glancing down at his stomach, “I’m not really feeling that hungry right now…”

“Wait what? Not hungry?” Grizz repeated in disbelief while Ice Bear put his paw to Panda’s forehead, trying to see if he was sick. “Dude, no one turns down pizza!” He then frowned. “Panda, you’ve been acting weird for like two weeks now. What’s going on?”

“Well…” He winced. “I just, sorta have something on my mind…”

“Then tell us, bro!” “Ice Bear is all ears.”

Panda thought for a moment, then sighed. “Okay so… I saw that the news was offering this big cash reward for pictures of whatever animal Charlie is, so I… I sorta tried to-”

“You tried to take a picture of him?!” Grizz finished for him, “Dude! You know Charlie doesn’t like cameras!”

“I know! But I just- It was just one picture! I didn’t think it was a big deal! Even Charlie said he was okay with it! But then, he kept moving and he wouldn’t let me take it, and I just got mad and… I think I hurt his feelings.” 

“Well then you know what you gotta do, right?” Grizz told him, putting a paw on his shoulder, yet still looking stern, “You gotta make this right, Pan-Pan.”

“…Yeah, I know.” Maybe what he said was true but, Panda wasn’t selfish enough to think that what he said was right. Even if he was still sorta frustrated at the situation, his guilt had gotten stronger. “Okay, I’ll go apologize.”

Both his brothers nodded in approval. “We’ll put the pizza on hold until you get back.” “Ice Bear knows your apology will be sincere.”

Panda nodded. “Thanks guys…” With that, he left the cave - making sure to leave his phone at home - and started his trek, hoping that Charlie would be easier to find than last time. 

He called his name a few times, but nothing in the bushes or trees stirred. Even as he traveled deeper in the forest, there seemed no sign of Charlie anywhere. “Ugh, come on, Charlie,” he mumbled, squinting as he tried to see in the dark, “Where are you…?” An honestly-upsetting thought crossed Panda’s mind: What if Charlie had ran away to some other forest because of what Panda said?

“Oh no…” He shook his head, groaning. “Ugh, nooo. What did I do? What-?”

Just then, there was a flash that made Panda sharply turn his head towards the trees. For a moment, he thought it was lightning, but quickly figured that it had to be something else, given how clear the sky was. 

There was another flash, and after that a whimper. A familiar sounding whimper… Eyes wide, Panda quietly moved towards the collection of trees and bushes, weaving through them as silently as possible before finally reaching a small clearing.

“Come on, man… W-What are you so afraid of?” Panda blinked. Crouching down in the middle of the grassy clearing was Charlie. His back was facing Panda, and when the bear leaned to the left slightly, he could see something in Charlie’s hands: One of those cheap, disposable cameras. (They still made those?)

Hearing Charlie take a deep breath, Panda watched as he lifted up the camera and faced it towards him, his finger on the button. Panda held back a gasp. But, just before it went off, the Sasquatch flinched and ducked down, avoiding the cheap camera’s eye.

“…” Panda felt his heart tighten a bit, quickly realizing what Charlie was trying to do. What he had pretty much forced him to do.

Charlie whimpered, but then groaned. “Come on, Charlie! You can do this! It’s just a, j-just a picture! One little picture!” He squeezed the camera slightly, shaking. “Y-You gotta stop bein’ such a freeloader and start actually being a friend! This is for them! …And it’s one of the few things someone like me could do to actually deserve such great friends as the bears…”

Panda couldn’t believe it, and he could actually feel his eyes getting misty. “Charlie…”

Charlie flinched, turning around. “Panda?!” 

The bear put a paw over his mouth, though quickly put it down. “Uh, y-yeah… Hi Charlie. I-”

“J-Just give me a minute, buddy!” Charlie raised the camera again. “I’ll have this picture for ya in just a sec! Don’t you worry!” He placed his shaking finger on the button - yet he couldn’t bring himself to press it. “…J-Just waiting for it to get in focus!”

“Charlie…” Walking over to him, Panda put a paw on the camera, and slowly brought it down. “You don’t have to.”

“…Yeah I do,” Charlie retorted, sniffling slightly, “I mean, you were right! It’s the least I can do after all the stuff you guys have done for me!”

“No, Charlie, I was wrong!” Panda insisted, “Forget what I said! I mean, you shouldn’t have to do something that scares you just for us!” 

“…” The Sasquatch looked away, giving another sniffle as he crossed his arms, hugging himself. “I wish it didn’t scare me… I, heh, I-I actually tried lettin’ people take my picture a long time ago. It, it wasn’t so bad at first. The flashes were a lil’ to bright and it was sorta uncomfortable but, I could deal with it. But…”

Panda leaned forward a bit, letting Charlie know that he was listening. “B-But, but then more people came, all of them just to take pictures of me. There were so many flashes, I could barely see! And, even the ones who didn’t use the flash, they just… T-They just looked at me like I wasn’t even a person. Just a thing… A freaky, weird thing… Then they started grabbin’ at my fur and tried to get me to go with them and I just- …ran.”

“…I- Charlie, I- …Gosh.” No wonder he was so scared of cameras. Honestly, if he had been what he’d been through, Panda thought that he probably would’ve been scared of them too. …And yet Charlie still tried to face his fears just for them - just for him. Even if he couldn’t do it, Panda now knew how hard it was for Charlie just to try - and the fact that he once thought of him as selfish because of it just made the bear feel even guiltier.

“I-It’s fine, really,” he insisted, though he still didn’t turn his head to look at him (and Panda was pretty sure he saw him lift up a hand to wipe his eyes), “I mean… After I hid for awhile, they didn’t come after me - at least, not for a few months. S-So… Yeah. All’s well that ends well, right?”

Panda didn’t say anything. He just stared at Charlie, trying to figure out what he could say - what he could even DO. And finally, he knew. Without any hesitation, he wrapped his arms around Charlie, and held him.

“…” The taller creature’s eyes were wide at the hug, but as the seconds passed and his eyes became wetter, Charlie wrapped his own lengthy arms around Panda and held him as tight as he could, sniffling every couple seconds.

Once the hug finally broke, Panda sighed. “Charlie… I am so, so sorry. I… I knew you were scared of cameras but, I didn’t know why and I guess part of me didn’t care just cause I didn’t think it was such a big deal. …But it is a big deal to you, and I totally get that now.” He lowered his head a bit. “…I was a jerk. A huge dingle, and an awful friend. And… I’m sorry.”

“…” Finally looking at him now, Charlie gave a warm and slightly relieved smile. “Aw, it’s alright! And, come on, no matter what you did, there’s no way I couldn’t forgive my little Pan-Pan!”

Panda rolled his eyes, but smiled. “Heh… Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem, pal. …But, you know, if you still need that picture I could- I mean, I-I’m sure I can just force myself to get over it, so-”

The bear shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine, trust me. We don’t need the money that badly. And even if we did, we still wouldn’t ask you for one. That’s what friends do, right?”

“…Y-yeah! Yeah! Friends!” Charlie nodded, beaming, “The best friends I could ask for!” Unable to help himself, he pulled Panda in for another hug, and even if it was a bit too tight, Panda not only didn’t pull away, but made sure to return the hug as well.

“So… You wanna head back to the cave for some pizza?” Panda asked after a few moments, already knowing the answer but still wanting to ask.

“Whoa, really?! I haven’t had pizza in forever!” Within a couple seconds, Charlie was on his feet, his friend’s paw in his grip - but for once, Panda didn’t mind. “What are we waiting for, let’s go get that pizza, man!”

Panda smiled, gladly letting Charlie lead him as they both left the disposable camera behind. “Heh, yeah. Let’s go.” 

THE END


End file.
